


fair weather

by sheriffandsteel



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Getting Together, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:49:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24691810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheriffandsteel/pseuds/sheriffandsteel
Summary: Some people's idea of a romantic evening was a candlelight dinner or a walk on the beach.JJ’s was a dark boat and a local ghost story.
Relationships: JJ Maybank/Pope Heyward, JJ/Pope (Outer Banks)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 100





	fair weather

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when I sit down to write a fic with literally no plot ideas and let the characters take the wheel.

“This has got to be the worst idea you have ever had.” Pope sighed, tucking the bill of his hat down over his eyes to hide his expression. Not that JJ needed to be able to see his face to know what expression he was making. JJ had been an expert in all things Pope related for years. 

“Are you forgetting about the treasure hunt summer?” JJ asked with an eyeroll. As if any idea he ever had could be worse than the shit they’d all got up to that year. 

Pope full body cringed next to him and lifted the hat up just enough to glare at JJ. “Put a dollar in the jar.” 

JJ scoffed and held up his hands in a ‘come on’ gesture. Pope only continued to glare at him before pointing to the table beside him where a large glass jar sat, stuffed nearly to the brim with wadded up dollar bills, probably half of them courtesy of JJ. A piece of duct tape was stuck to the front with Kie’s bubbly handwriting declaring ‘ _the summer that shall not be named_.’ 

“I still say _this_ is the worst idea any of us have ever had.” JJ grumbled as he pulled a dollar out of his wallet and half crawled half fell over Pope to reach the jar. Pope sighed and cursed as JJ fell against his chest but JJ just took his time and spoke over his complaints. “Hey I’m just doing what you said man.” 

“You guys are ridiculous.” Kie laughed as she blew smoke out the window where she was sitting. 

“You know you’ve missed this.” JJ grinned back at her as he finally moved off of Pope, admittedly taking longer than he should have. He hoped everyone would assume he lingered to annoy Pope further and not because he’d missed the familiar scent of Pope’s skin. 

“So, you replace us yet Kie?” John B asked as he took the joint Kie offered down to him. She nudged him lightly with her foot with an eyeroll. 

“As if anyone could ever replace you. You guys are my ride or die.” Kie smiled and leaned her head against the windowsill as Sarah ‘awwed’ at her. 

“College made you sappy.” JJ said throwing a pillow at Kie even though her words made an unfamiliar thrill of warmth spread through his chest. 

“Or she’s been sappy all along and college just brought it to the surface.” Pope declared philosophically, letting his head loll back against JJ’s arm where he’d had it rested on the back of the couch. 

JJ swallowed hard at the feeling and tried to ignore the fluttering in his stomach from the touch. Pope’s touch never used to send such shocking tingles shooting off in his body but things had been different since he’d left for college. In his absence JJ noticed how much time he had spent with Pope and he felt his absence like a physical thing. 

“Doesn’t matter.” JJ waved his comment (and his thoughts) away with his free hand, resisting the urge to run his fingers over Pope’s hair with the hand trapped behind his head. “Are we doing this or not?” 

Sarah let out a long sigh, dropping her head back against John B’s chest. “Do we have too?” 

“It could be fun.” Kie remarked idly, as if she didn’t care one way or the other what they decided. JJ had been hoping for a more exuberant reaction but it wasn’t a total rejection like the others so he’d take what he could get. 

“It will be fun.” John B said decisively, sharing a devilish grin with JJ who smirked back at him triumphantly. Once John B was behind something it was just a matter of time before everyone else agreed. 

Pope sighed and slumped sideways against JJ, tucking his head against JJ’s chest. The triumphant smile wavered on JJ’s face as he struggled to remember how to breath. 

“This is the summer we all fucking die.” Pope muttered, his voice slightly muffled by JJ’s shirt. JJ bit the inside of his cheek to keep in the words that if Pope kept touching him like that JJ was going to die on the spot. 

After high school the Pogues spent the three months of summer attached together, spending as much time as possible with each other as if they could make up for their upcoming separation. In the end it only made it harder when the others left. The only one that stayed behind with JJ was John B but since he took the ferry to the mainland nearly every weekend to go visit Sarah sometimes it felt like the only one who stayed on the Outer Banks was JJ. 

His friends were his whole life, always had been, and now that they were gone, he found himself with a sudden overabundance of time on his hands. Sure, he had his job making deliveries and stocking shelves at Heywards, and he’d picked up a gig giving surfing lessons to tourists but that still left him with way too much time to spend with his own head. Since his thoughts often kept drifting back to Pope which left him confused and sad JJ turned to the internet for distraction. And that was where he found it, and so bloomed an infatuation almost as strong as Big John’s obsession with the _Royal Merchant_. 

The legend of the _Beau Temps._

JJ had never cared much for ghost stories. He wasn’t a fan of scary movies, he’d read some Stephen King in middle school when Pope was super into him and JJ wanted to impress him but after three books, he’d found him to be a bit repetitive and not really his style. All in all, JJ just wasn’t into the horror genre. Which is why no one was more surprised than him when he found himself suddenly obsessing over a legend of a ghost ship. 

“It’s just a scary story to spook tourists.” Sarah told him with a smile when JJ told her about the ship one weekend when she came to the island to see John B. John B was in the shower and he was getting pretty sick of hearing about the ship so JJ had taken the opportunity to bring it up to a new set of ears. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the reaction he’d been hoping for. 

John B had understandably not been very interested in the _Beau Temps_. He’d spent his whole life hearing about the _Merchant_ from his father and look where that landed them. The last thing he wanted to do was hear about another ship. JJ stopped mentioning the legend to him pretty quickly, even if it was super hard when he stumbled across a new fact and had to fight the desire to sprint across the house to jump on John B and tell him about it. 

Kie had been somewhat intrigued about it when JJ told her when she came home for Christmas. He’d mentioned it a few times over FaceTime but the majority of it he saved to tell her in person. This was a story that deserved to be told face to face. She hadn’t been nearly as impressed as he’d hoped and the conversation had soon moved on to the damage sunken ships presented to the ocean. 

Pope’s reaction? Well that had been what JJ had been waiting for all along which is probably why he’d known to save it for last. Wide eyed he’d stared at JJ, his fingers running anxiously over the lip of his beer bottle he hadn’t drank from since JJ started talking. “That’s fucking terrifying.” he’d whispered, causing a smile to stretch across JJ’s face at the reaction. 

“I know!” he’d cried in agreement, feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Here was another believer, here was someone else who understood. Even better, it was Pope. 

Suddenly the world felt bright again. 

The first night out on the water was the best. It was the five of them again, just like old times. Sure, they were looking for a different boat and for a much different reason but being all together again reminded JJ pleasantly of a summer that hadn’t been very pleasant at all. He kept having to put dollars in the jar with how much he kept bringing it up. 

This time though the police weren’t after them because no one cared if they spent all their time chasing a ghost story and the equipment they were using was stuff that JJ had bought, nothing borrowed or stolen now. JJ thought they’d gotten a bit boring now that they were adults but he supposed it was bound to happen at some point. 

JJ was only half listening as Kie told Sarah about the girl at school she was kind of seeing. JJ wanted to weigh in and tell her that she should just tell the girl how she felt but considering that he had been head over heels for his best friend for a while now and hadn’t told him, JJ figured he wasn’t the best person to be giving out relationship advice. Although considering the fact that Sarah had dated Topper for like a year or some shit she probably wasn’t either. 

JJ had just leaned forward to cut in and stop this sure to be disaster of advice before it happened when a hand settled itself on his shoulder, its weight comfortingly familiar and clearing all other thoughts from JJ’s head. 

Looking up JJ bit back a smile at Pope looking down at him curiously for a moment before he nodded to the piece of equipment in his hands. 

“So, this gonna catch the ghosts for us?” Pope asked, he put up a good front but JJ could still hear the wavering nerves in his voice. He was the only one taking this as seriously as JJ, everyone else was acting like they were just out taking a nighttime boat ride. 

“We’re not trying to catch the ghosts man.” JJ said with an eyeroll. This had to be the fifth time Pope and him had this conversation. “We’re just trying to find the ship.” 

“I thought that the ship would find us.” Pope replied settling down beside JJ on the seat and leaning back against the railing. The cold of the metal was seeping through JJ’s shirt and making him shiver, or maybe that had something to do with the fact that Pope’s knee was pressed against his as he carefully took the EMF reader out of JJ’s hands, his fingertips brushing against JJ’s palm as he did so. 

“If it doesn’t catch the ghosts what does it do?” Pope asked curiously. 

“It detects unexplained fluctuations in electromagnetic fields.” JJ answered quickly, quoting the description of the device he’d bought online when three weeks had gone past and he’d thought of the _Beau Temps_ every single day. At this rate the only thing he thought about more was Pope. 

“Of course, it does.” Pope laughed. “You know I’m not really sure if I believe in ghosts.” Pope whispered as he pressed the EMF back into JJ’s hands. 

JJ’s brow wrinkled at this confession. “Why are you so scared then?” 

Pope shrugged before turning to look out over JJ’s shoulder at the dark ocean around them. “Enough people claim to have seen this ship. That’s gotta mean something. Besides, I try to keep an open mind.” 

“College broadening your world huh?” JJ asked, nudging Pope’s ribs with his elbow and trying to keep his voice light. He really _really_ did not want to know some of the ways Pope’s world might have been broadened. 

“Shut up.” Pope rolled his eyes and nudged JJ back before settling against him, keeping his eyes out towards the sea. 

JJ fiddled with the device in his hands nervously before he turned towards the water as well, the others’ voices a dull hum in his ears as he both hoped they saw the ship to prove all the naysayers wrong and didn’t so that he could have another night on the water with Pope pressed against his side. 

It turned out that JJ’s worries were for nothing. They didn’t see anything that first night. 

Or the next. 

Or the one after that. 

By the time the fourth night showed up Kie had to bail to go work a late shift at her dad’s restaurant. The next night Sarah had to spend time with her sister. The next John B had to work late. After a while their variety of excuses started to blend and JJ stopped paying attention to them altogether. They all meant the same thing. 

This was a hunt they were not wanting to be a part of. It was one thing to go chasing down a ship when there was a pot of gold at the end. It was quite another when the only thing you could hope to find was a story half the people who heard wouldn’t believe anyway. 

By the time that two weeks had passed the only one who stuck it out with JJ was Pope. 

The fourth of July rolled around and JJ realized with only a flicker of surprise that he had spent every day since Pope had been back at his side. They were both working at Heywards so they spent most of the day together and then they reunited back on the boat. The only time they were really even apart was when JJ was teaching his surf lessons and even then, Pope sometimes came down to the beach to surf or to watch JJ’s students topple over from the shore. 

All of this time together just showed JJ how much he had missed Pope while he’d been gone. He had known their entire friendship that one day Pope would leave him for the mainland and college and JJ had thought he had done a pretty good job of convincing himself that he was okay with it but that was before Pope had actually left. Now that he was back JJ had no idea how he was going to be able to cope with him leaving again. 

It certainly didn’t help matters that the very inconvenient crush he’d had on Pope for years had not faded with their distance like JJ had been expecting. It hadn’t really even wavered. Now that Pope was back and suddenly no longer seemed to care about JJ’s personal space it was only getting worse. Add in to the fact that they were spending every night alone together out on the ocean in a dark boat and well, JJ’s once little crush was becoming an all-consuming thing. 

He’d never acted on his feelings before even when Pope lived in the same place as him, JJ was certainly not about to act on them now. What would be the point? Even if miracle of all miracles Pope actually liked him the same way he was still leaving for college in a few weeks. JJ just didn’t see the point in confessing his feelings only to break both of their hearts in less than two months. 

They took the night of the Fourth off from their ghost hunt to lay with the others on the roof of John B’s house and watch the fireworks explode overhead. JJ tried to keep his eyes on the sky but it was a bit difficult with the way Pope’s face light up every single time the sparks rained down above them. 

After the Fourth the others started coming back out on the boat with them at night. Maybe it was because they had started to believe the legend but JJ thought it was that they’d realized they were now on the back half of their summer break and they all wanted to spend as much time together as possible. 

Those late nights out on the water became some of the best nights of JJ’s life in the recent months and he had a ghost story to thank for it. 

The legend of the _Beau Temps_ was that it appeared on nights of fair weather in the summer to other passing ships. A ship back in the 40s even claimed that it had sailed straight through their ship, nearly capsizing them. JJ took that story with a grain of salt since in all the other tales (dating back as far as the 1880s) the ship merely sailed up right beside their boats, coming out of nowhere to linger beside them for a few moments. Some people said they heard voices calling from the other boat, others that they saw people waving. One sailor in ‘77 even claimed he boarded the ship for a few minutes. Most of the _Beau Temps_ believers chalked that story up to the drugs of the 70s but JJ was inclined to believe him. 

All the stories had one thing in common, you didn’t find the ship. The ship found you. There was no correlation to any of the ships that had claimed to see it pass by, some were schooners, some small fishing boats, even a pleasure cruise a few years back had passengers that claimed to have seen it. JJ didn’t know why the ship showed itself to some and not others but as July sailed into August, he could feel his hopes of seeing it begin to dwindle. 

JJ wasn’t stupid, despite what most of the island seemed to think of him. He knew that his obsession with the _Beau Temps_ stemmed from the fact that he missed his friends. He was deflecting his missing them onto the ship because it gave him something else to think about, to focus on. If all he thought about was the ship than he didn’t have to think about the fact that his friends were leaving in a few weeks and he’d be all alone again. 

One muggy August night it was just JJ and Pope out on the boat again. JJ didn’t really mind, as much as he wanted to be spending time with all the Pogues before they left him again he would never say no to one on one time with Pope. He never had, he doubted he ever would. 

He knew that his crush on Pope was getting to be a bit out of control, it was certainly getting harder and harder to ignore, even harder not to act on. JJ was well known to act without thinking. He never thought about the consequences, he never thought about what happened next. He was an act first, think later kind of guy. 

Except when it came to Pope. 

When it came to Pope, all JJ did was think. It was kind of hard not to when his actions might end one of the best friendships he had. 

“Fuck its dark out here.” Pope shivered next to JJ as they stared out across the calm waters. They had killed the lights of the boat with the engine and were letting the motion of the waves bob them around as they sat back to back and scanned the ocean. 

“Aw you afraid of the dark Pope?” JJ laughed, stretching his hand behind him towards Pope and wiggling his fingers. “Do you need to hold my hand?” 

Pope scoffed and pushed JJ’s hand lightly away and JJ laughed to cover up his disappointment that he hadn’t been taken up on his offer. 

“Do you really think this ship is real?” Pope asked after a long stretch of silence. 

JJ shrugged, feeling Pope’s back shift against him as he did so. “Why not? Crazier shit out there.” 

“Is there?” Pope asked and JJ could practically see the thoughtful expression on his face. “We are talking about a ghost ship. Like no one’s ever claimed to see passengers. Its literally the ghost. Of a ship.” 

“Hey ships can be ghosts if they want to be man.” JJ laughed, pushing lightly on Pope’s back with his arms. Pope laughed in response and shoved him back and JJ shifted so he could lean against him more comfortably as he seriously considered Pope’s point. “Look, I don’t know if it's real or not. But does that matter? What's the harm in believing in it, real or not real?” 

“JJ...” Pope whispered, his name coming out like a breath. JJ shook his head to shake free his thoughts and made a ‘hmm’ noise in response. Pope started tapping on his hand where it rested on the deck and JJ turned his eyes away from the dark sea to look at Pope. 

Pope wasn’t looking at him though he was too busy staring wide eyed at the astonishingly large ship bearing down on them. 

This ship didn’t look like any ship JJ had ever seen before. For one thing it was made of a mess of wood and rigging and for another it was almost completely see through. JJ could see the waves crashing through the hull rather than against it. 

“Holy shit.” JJ breathed seeing Pope’s shell-shocked nod of agreement beside him. “Holy shit!” JJ cried, springing to his feet and pulling Pope up beside him. 

“Its gonna crash into us!” Pope cried in fear, slipping his hand into JJ’s to cling to his fingers tightly. JJ only whooped in response too caught up in the sight of the legendary ghost of the _Beau Temps_ before him to feel any kind of worry. The sensation of Pope’s hand may have had something to do with his elation too. 

“Bring it baby!” JJ hollered watching in elation as the ship got closer and closer to him. None of the stories about the _Beau Temps_ passing through other ships said that it sunk them so JJ wasn’t scared but he could feel Pope shaking next to him. JJ squeezed his hand reassuringly and watched with wide eyes as the _Beau Temps_ bore down on them and then... 

Nothing. 

JJ blinked and the large vessel in front of them was suddenly gone, evaporated into thin air like it had never really been there at all. 

“We’re gonna die we’re gonna die we’re gonna die.” Pope was muttering rapidly under his breath and JJ noticed with a pang of amusement and affection that he had his eyes squeezed shut. 

“It's gone you big baby. We survive to live another day.” JJ promised him, squeezing his hand one more time and making no move to drop it. He’d waited so long to hold Pope’s hand he wasn’t about to let it go so easily. 

Pope’s eyes popped open and he scanned the sea on either side of them to confirm JJ’s words before he let out a big sigh of relief and leaned forward, letting his head rest with a flop against JJ’s shoulder. 

JJ suddenly found himself unable to breath or even remember how he was supposed to do that. Did one exhale first? 

“That was the scariest moment of my life and I’ve literally been shot at.” Pope muttered into JJ’s collar and JJ shivered at the feeling of his breath tickling his skin. 

“You didn’t seem scared.” JJ assured him, even though they both knew it was a lie. Pope was so close that the only thing JJ could smell was his skin, the clean smell of soap and the salt of the sea. They had never been this close for this long before and it was doing strange things to JJ’s heart. He was pretty sure it couldn’t be healthy for it to be beating this fast. JJ ran his thumb over the back of Pope’s hand to remind himself that yes, they were even still holding hands. 

“Liar. I was terrified.” Pope laughed, wrapping his free arm around JJ’s back to pull him closer to him like he was somehow afraid he was going to pull away. As if JJ ever would do that. 

“Nothing to be scared of.” JJ promised, patting Pope lightly on the back and slowly pulling his hand back, letting it linger against his shoulders as he moved it away. 

“What was the scariest moment of your life?” Pope asked curiously, pulling his head off JJ’s shoulder just enough to be able to meet his eyes. 

“This.” JJ whispered honestly before raising his free hand to rest against Pope’s cheek. Pope looked at him in surprise as JJ lightly traced his bottom lip with his thumb before a slow smile began to spread across his face. 

“Nothing to be scared of.” Pope promised on a whisper, looking at JJ with eyes as dark and bottomless as the sea around them. 

JJ swallowed the lump in his throat as he remembered that they had literally just seen the ghost of a ship. This was night where anything was possible. This was a night where miracles happened. For once when it came to Pope JJ let himself act without thinking and before he had a chance to talk himself out of it, JJ leaned forward and kissed him. 

To his delight and surprise Pope did not shove him away but instead used the hand on his back to press JJ closer to him, his lips moving against JJ’s with a familiar ease like they had done this a million times before. Kissing Pope was even better than JJ had imagined it to be and he let himself get lost in the sensation of it. And sure, they had seen a ghost ship that night but honestly, kissing Pope had to be the most extraordinary thing to happen to JJ all summer. 

Later as they made their way back towards land JJ wrapped an arm around Pope, keeping one hand on the wheel and the other running up and down Pope’s arm. 

“Hey Pope?” JJ asked curiously as a sudden thought occurred to him. 

“Yeah?” Pope asked softly, running his fingers across JJ’s palm in a way that made him shiver. 

He almost didn’t want to ask what he was going to next but now that the thought had come to him JJ knew he wouldn’t be able to let it go. “Do you still want to be a coroner now that you know ghosts exist?” 

Pope turned to look at him with wide eyes and a thoroughly adorable look of shock on his face. “Oh... _fuck._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> come talk to me about these two lovebirds on tumblr @lumierelalune


End file.
